


'The Adventure Begins'

by lady_meatball



Series: Thanksgiving in Boston [5]
Category: American Actor RPF, Chris Evans (Actor) RPF
Genre: Domestic!Evans, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Gen, K C & the Sunshine Band, K&C, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-06 06:36:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8738554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lady_meatball/pseuds/lady_meatball
Summary: Coffee isn’t the only thing on the menu as Chris and Katie wake up, with Scott receiving a rude awakening on the other side of the shared bedroom wall. Katie finishes baking her contributions to help with feeding the family for Thanksgiving before sitting down with Chris to make some decisions about what’s next. The kids finally get to build their blanket fort for story time once their long weekend begins.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to @mumbles411 for helping to brainstorm, and nudging me through the bouts of ‘block’!
> 
> Warning- Smut (Masturbation/Penetration-Girl on Top, From Behind, Anal), Dominance Displays, Mention of Daddy Kink, Willful Disobedience

  *   


[Originally posted by dreaming-distractions](https://tmblr.co/Z-IxRn1gcZWzI)

‘Mhmmm….warm.’ The tiny voice inside my head purred as I bordered the world of waking from sleep; Chris was wrapped around me, his chest and arms engulfing my naked body under the layers of blankets, corralling and pinning me almost entirely against the wall that lined my side of his childhood bed. Breathing deeply, I yawned before carefully wiggling my hand loose from the covers to rub the sleep from my eyes.

Turning to peek back at Chris, I saw he was soon to be joining me in the world of the waking as he too inhaled, his body lengthening to stretch; a series of cracks and pops sounded, followed by his groan of relief.

Twisting in his arm, I turned to face him, nuzzling my nose with his.

“Morning.” He said, his voice hoarse from sleeping; the feeling of his arm tightening around my waist as he drew me closer, pressing my body against his.

“Good morning…” I answered, still sleepy and relishing in his body heat, but as I woke, I could feel my desire to connect stir as well. Slipping my hand from his chest, I directed it between our bodies, finding his cock half hard when I grasped it, giving it a gentle squeeze. Opening my eyes, I saw a tiny smile lift the left side of his face in a small grin; his eyes hadn’t opened yet. Stretching, I pressed a tender kiss to his lips, whispering, “I’m horny.”

“Best semiconscious dream ever…” He hummed happily, tilting his hips towards me, telling me to keep it up.

Tilting my face to angle into his neck better, I leaned in, zeroing in on the spot his pulse showed as my hand worked him to a stiff state; sucking at the skin of his neck, I closed my eyes, focusing on the touch of his cock in my hand, the sounds he gave me as encouragement, the slightly salty taste of his skin under my mouth…

His left hand traced down my back to my ass, palming and squeezing the flesh before his hand slid down to my the back of my thigh, lifting it to wrap over his hip, allowing him to get in on the action with his hand finding my sex to play with as well.

Taking our time, we worked each other up until Chris rolled over onto his back, reaching to the night stand for one of the condoms he left there before climbing back into bed to sleep earlier in the morning. Fumbling for the wrapper without looking, Chris was too focused on watching me blow him, knocking the bottle of massage oil off the stand along with the bottle of water and his phone in a loud crash.

“Faahh…” He moaned as I took him as deep as I could, giving a tiny wiggle to get my lips around that small slip of exposed skin at the base of him before swallowing and humming; drawing off of him, I sucked hard, making him growl out in pleasure, his hands burying in my hair to keep my in place longer before removing myself completely. Keeping up with the pressure, I did as he wanted, earning his panted compliment, “Fahhhhk, Baby, you keep that up, and you’re gonna suck me inside out…and I won’t be of any use to you for quite some time.”

Pulling off him, I pressed a soft kiss the to tip, smiling up his torso at him while I stroked his member, telling him with a wink, “Death by blow job…what a way to go.”

“Almost as nice as being buried deep in you, which is what I would prefer…come here.”

Sitting up, I sat astride his thighs, reaching for the foil packet.

“Let me…” I told him, taking the wrapper from between his pointer and middle finger when he held it out for me. Ripping the packet open, I pulled the rubber from inside, pinching the end and rolling it over him. Shifting up his body, I poised myself over his dick, guiding him as I sunk down, impaling on his rock hard cock. Looking down at him, I watched Chris through heavy eyes, my body adjusted to him filling me. “It’s my turn…let me love you…Fuck, you feel good.” I sighed as my head tipped backwards, my hands on his chest as I began moving ever so slowly.

His hands gripped the flare of my hips, his fingertips biting into the flesh and surely leaving faint bruises in the strong hold he had on me; his eye were no longer barely open, heavy with sleep…now they were sharp and hungry, watching my body as I picked up pace, riding him to appease the need in me, to help strengthen our bond and set another stone in the foundation we were laying to start building our lives on.

“I was just about to say the same thing…” Chris admitted, leaning up to catch a nipple as his right hand left my ass, skitting up my back to pull me closer to him. “Gahhd, have I told you lately how much I love your tits?” He asked in between switching from one to the other, his fingers taking over at pinching, plucking and rolling the sensitive bud while his mouth repeated the attention on the ignored flesh.

His teeth pulling gently on the turgid button just as he pinched the other had me moaning as I braced my hands against the wall for better leverage before picking up the pace. Chris’ left hand was slowly making it’s way toward my center, stopping to tease the puckered skin of my asshole while he continued to lavish attention on my breasts.

“What happened to me being in control?” I smiled down at him, breathlessly. “You’re supposed to let me do all the work…”

Smoky blue eyes looked up at me, my breast still attached to his mouth as a quick flick of his eye brow told him he was fully awake and ready to play…and now that we had taken that next step in getting physical after what had happened, with ‘making love’ the night before, he wanted to bond in some of the naughtier activities we both enjoyed. Pulling his face away, he broke free of his hold on my nipple with a ‘pop’, his right hand leaving my free breast to guide me down to his face for a kiss.

“Not for a long time…” He growled, nipping at my lips; his left hand left my ass momentarily, only to come crashing down in a sharp ‘crack’ against my flesh. “I need you…up against the wall, Babe.-” he instructed between kisses, getting me to move off of his lap and face the wall that lined my side of bed. I felt the mattress shift as he climbed to his knees, shuffling in behind and crowding close. The coolness of the paint against my chest was a new sensation, making my nipples harden even further and ache. The warmth of Chris’ body pressing into mine from behind cocooned me as he notched himself back to my hungry cunt to finish off the easy orgasm he knew was within reach for me, especially at this new angle. “-Scotty’s on the other side of this wall…” he purred in my ear; I could practically heard the devious smile spread across his face as he withdrew and pounded back into me.

“Fuck…you’re sick, and twisted, and evil, and I love you…” I breathed, palms splayed out against the wall, resisting from making any noise more than a whisper.

“Do you know how many times I’ve had to listen to him fap? Had to pretend I was asleep if he and whoever he was hooking up with got busy while sharing rooms?” Chris chuckled, giving his stroke a little extra ‘umph’ and making me knock into the wall loudly. “Too many times to count…he’s due for a little payback. Make as much noise as you want, Baby Girl…it’s time he woke up anyways.”

And with that, his body retreated only to slam into mine.

“Fuck!” I yelped in surprise, as I was pinned to the wall.

Chris’ hands roamed over my torso, holding my lower body to him as he went about pounding me relentlessly. The only leverage I could garner was to brace my hands and forearms against the wall to allow me to push back so my face wasn’t pressed into it with each of his strokes.

“Yes…keep talking. Wake him up…”

The way Chris had said that had little alarms going off in my head, something wasn’t right, and I felt dirty, like I was being used in a vindictive game between siblings.

“No…” I whispered, turning my head slightly to glance back at Chris.

“What do you mean ‘no’? I want you to make noise…” He growled against my neck as he attached to my skin, sucking and nipping to leave a mark.

“If you want to get rough, I’m fine with that, but I’m not putting on a show to wake your brother up. I’m not playing that game, Christopher…do you want to fuck me or do you want to piss off Scott, because you’re not getting both.” I said low, as he continued his assault on me from behind, a sharp bite to the top of my shoulder had me gasping; reaching my hand back from the wall, I fisted the longer hair at the back of his head, tugging to get his attention. His tongue passed over my flesh to sooth the sting of the imprint his perfectly straight teeth had left, a gravelly rumble thundered through his chest, vibrating along my back; he liked my assertiveness and pushing back to let him know he was pushing my buttons, not in a good way, testing limits. “Choose wisely, Scotty’s anger or the pleasure my body can give you.”

He wedged his left hand between me and the wall, pressing himself as close as he possibly could; his short beard tickled up my neck as he kissed and licked a sensual trail up to my ear, breathing, “Butt stuff?”

“If that’s what it’s going to take to get you to leave Scotty alone this morning, you can fuck me in the ass.” I conceded, reaching between my spread legs to run the tips of my fingers along the underside of his balls with each trust; Chris hummed his delight at my answer in my ear, his teeth closing on the lobe to tease me with a gentle tug. “Make sure you grab the lube, I’m gonna need it…”

“The bacon lube?” He asked, tracing the shell of my ear with his tongue as one hand molded and kneaded my breast as the other played with my clit. “You want ‘Wahlburgers’?”

“No…the stuff you used last night. We’re not stinking up our room with bacon flavored lube…because then I’ll want bacon and I don’t think there is any in the fridge.” I sighed as he worked his magic on me before he disengaged to fumble over the side of the bed for the bottle of raspberry scented oil, returning a moment later.

“Back up…-” He directed, touching my hip and guiding me to angle my ass out so he could begin the process of preparing me to take his cock. “-There we go…Gahd, I love this…-” he hummed, drizzling a thin stream of liquid over my ample flesh, down into the crack, his fingers catching the run off as he distributed the slick from mound back up to the small of my back, massaging and kneading as he went. The feeling of a finger skating over the tight skin, teasing before pressing against the puckered flesh happened at the same moment I felt his growing whiskers on my skin, sensitive with the coating of oil. His lips pressed a kiss before his mouth opened and he growled as he bit my cheek with just enough force to make me jump in surprise, “-big, meaty, beautiful ass. I’ve been thinking about it nonstop since Atlanta, how amazing it feels, the sounds and faces you make as I fuck it…Gahd I missed it, Kay.”

“Me too.” I sighed, closing my eyes and smiling as he sunk one finger in; focusing, I willed the muscles resisting his invasion to relax, loving the sensation he gave me. Rocking gently, he got me used to the fullness, pulling his hand away to bring another finger into play, slowly widening my body with his return and eventual scissoring.

The feeling of Chris crowding close as he yanked his hand away, making me whimper and moan at his fingers being ripped away from my body had me wavering on the brink of an orgasm, which he knew and in his mean spirited state told me he was going to stretch out the toying and teasing for as long as he wanted.

Tracing the tip all over me, from clit to asshole in slow, lazy swipes, he did exactly what I figured while pouring more lube down my crack.

“Hands on the wall, Babe…brace yourself.”

That was the only warning he gave before fitting the head of his cock to my waiting hole and sinking in with a snap of his hips. My eyes flew open, my jaw dropping open in shock at his sudden change in tactics as I was forced into the wall once more, squeaking my surprise in a sharp gasp.

“ _OhmyGod…CHRIS_!” 

His deep chuckle of masculine pride rumbled along my spine as he pressed close, his hips retreating to slam back into my ass a second later. He knew exactly what he was doing, and I hadn’t been properly prepared for it, my body resisting his advances.

“Relax…you gotta relax, Kay…” He growled, nipping the side of my neck.

“I can’t! Stop…STOP!” I called, lifting a hand from the wall next to my face to reach back, slapping his pistoning ass to get his attention. It took a few seconds, but he stilled when I told him, “Too much, too soon, Chris…slowly! It’s been almost two weeks since we did this last…that long since we had sex. I wasn’t ready, and we need more lube if you’re gonna go banana sandwich on me like that right out of the gate…”

He nuzzled his face into the side of mine, his apology mumbled against my cheek as he began moving, much more slowly as his arm wrapped tight around my waist.

“I’m sorry, baby. I got a little excited…is this better?”

“Yes.” I sighed, relaxing around him with the gentler pace. The soft smile of pleasure lifting my mouth told him this was much better. “Fuuuck…” I whispered as he pulled out and pushed back in at an excruciatingly slow rate, reveling in the full feeling he gave me.

“That’s right, talk for me…tell me how good it feels.” The smooth strokes began slowly growing quicker as his left hand slipped down my body to finger my cunt and tease my clit, Chris growling in my ear once more, “Gahd…I love fahking your ass, Kay. So deliciously tight…”

“It’s that thick cock of yours…” I purred as he snapped his hips; moaning, I pleaded, “Yes…fuck, Chris…more, please?”

“Beg me, Baby. What do you want? Tell me…” He instructed, a hint of smugness in his voice as he paused mid thrust to make me squirm. Circling my ass around him, I whimpered, growing frustrated at his stop and start teasing. His fingers slid up to my mound, rubbing over my clit twice before slipping back down to sink his fingers deep in me, his scruffy lips pressed to my ear, his tongue slipping out to trace the ridges of my ear before repeating his demand.

“I want more…more speed…fuck me, Chris.” I panted, attempting to back my ass further onto him, but he had the advantage of the angle and kept me pinned to the wall. “Fuck my ass…my pussy…please, Baby…”

He retreated to the rim of the head, sawing the flared tip inside the tight ring of muscle to work me up those last few degrees he knew I had left.

“The last time we did this, you didn’t call me ‘Baby’…what did you call me?” Chris asked, voice dark and deep as his tongue dipped to run along the outline of the top ridge and notch of my ear lobe.

“Daddy-” I swallowed, taking a deep breath before going on, my ass mirroring his miniscule strokes with my own as best I could with the angle he had me pressed to the wall. “-I called you Daddy…”

“Mmm…” He hummed before pressing himself deep, to the hilt once more; whimpering and gasping, I bit my bottom lip, my face screwed up at the amazing feeling of him bottoming out with his thrust from the new, upwards angle that had my chest moving over the text of the sheetrock in delicious friction. “I really like hearing you call me that while I’m balls deep in your gorgeous ass, Baby Girl…”

“Who’s the one with the ‘Daddy’ kink now?” I breathed, my hand fisting on the wall next to my face before extending and softly slapping the painted wall as his next stroke was sharper. A slap to the side of my ass was my reward for my sass, so I rephrased my sarcastic question. “Sorry…who’s the one with the ‘Daddy’ kink now, _Daddy_?”

“That’s better, Baby…” He smiled, his hand lifting to tap my chin, making me turn to glance back at him, allowing him to kiss me. Not able to resist, I brought a hand back to cradle the back of his head, holding him to me for the connection while he continued to build to a pummeling pace.

It wasn’t long before he reached ‘cruising speed’, just fast enough to keep me on edge but not enough to push me over the edge, and he knew it.

“Chris…” I whined, “-PLEASE!”

“Baby Girl, you have to tell me what you want…you know the drill.” He panted, a chortle in his voice before reverting back to the sharp, upwards thrust at the end of his sentence, making him chuckle at the ironic way his words and actions matched up.

“Fuck me…harder. Please, Chris-” I begged. A smack to my ass interrupted my plea, making me correct myself, “-Daddy…Harder, Daddy, please! I’m almost there…”

It was like a switch had been flipped in him, and he instantly went from the gentle, languid pace to frenzied and animalistic; I did everything I could to brace for the impact, but his new pace had the mattress rolling under my knees, bumping against the wall…doing exactly what he wanted in the first place, making enough noise to wake his brother on the other side of the wall. I was so close in that moment, my need to cum was greater than my rising anger at Chris for playing me to be apart of the game when I told him I wanted no part in it. This wasn’t how we usually fucked, this stemmed from a dark place in him, not one of love and tenderness…this was frustration and defiance at it’s finest I mused as he pounded me into the wall, and the only way I could live with the knowledge he had done exactly what I asked him not to was to keep silent.

He noticed my silence, growling in my ear, “Sorry, babe…you caught me. Don’t get quiet on me now…”

Biting my lips as he brought me to the breaking point with his thrusts and his hand at my clit, I willed myself to not give him what he wanted, my screams of pleasure as I came hard around him. A deep, low growl sounded in my ear as he realized I wasn’t going to do as he said.

“FAAHK! YOU’RE. PERFECT.” He snarled, his hand lifting from the wall to fist before landing on the wall in a series of loud bangs. “Gahd, I love your ass.” He added, speaking just slightly louder than necessary, addressing the wall in front of us.

“ _CHRISTOPHER!_ ” I hissed, wedging my arm between us to push him off of me as my anger exceeded the pleasure of coming down from the orgasm he just gave me.

“Come on Scotty, _WAKEY WAKEY_ …” He taunted.

“ **FAHK YOU, YOU FAHKING ASSHOLE, MOTHERFAHKER!** ” Scott’s angry response came through the wall, muffled and drowned out by his fist pounding back on the wall. “ **I WAS SLEEPING**!”

Pushing him away from me, I smacked his arm away when he tried to snag me around the waist as I scrambled out of bed. Standing at the closet, I gathered up clothes to throw on, glaring at him angrily before ripping the door open and storming out of the room.

* * *

Shuffling into the kitchen, I yawned, pulling my hair from the lopsided bun that was already falling apart after making love the night before, sleeping and getting it on again just a moment ago. I had pulled on a pair of Chris’ sweatpants as well as the flannel he had worn the day prior, over my t-shirt before heading downstairs while Chris took his time getting out of bed since harassing his younger brother seemed more important than me, his fiancee, in that very moment .

The coffeepot sat with a couple inches of black liquid in the bottom; I grabbed the carafe, walking over to the sink to dump it and pour fresh water in the tank to start a new batch when I heard feet shuffle overhead, followed by the heavy footfalls on the back stairs. Glancing back, I saw Scott walk in, glowering in my direction.

“I did **NOT** appreciate that…” He grumbled, a pair of flannel lounge pants low on his hips and a faded Pats shirt sat crookedly on his chest, telling me he had hastily thrown it on before stomping down the stairs.

Trying to hide my guilty and embarrassed face, I shot him an apologetic look as I went back to the task at hand of making coffee for all of us.

Chris walked in just as the pot sputtered the last of the brew out less than ten minutes later; he spotted his brother leaning against the counter, arms crossed at his chest and sour faced, making him laugh.

“It’s _not_ funny…”

“Yeah it is…just paybacks for all the times…” Chris started to say, but Scott piped up.

“ _ALL_ the times? _ALL_ the times? _TWO_ times, Chris!” Scott interrupted, pushing off the edge of the counter to confront Chris.

I poured one mug, grabbing a second quickly as Chris stepped into Scott’s body, taunting him.

“And all the times I had to listen to you through that wall growing up…”

“That street goes _**BOTH**_ ways, do you know how many times I had to listen to _YOU_?”

“Boys…come on.” I sighed, pushing a cup into Scott’s hands, followed by doing the same with Chris. “ _EVERYBODY_ does it, just let it go…please.”

Scott just glared at his older brother before snorting in his direction and handing me back the mug, yawning, “I’m going back to bed. Try to keep it down, please…”

* * *

Watching Scott turn and walk out of the kitchen, I heaved a heavy sigh, holding the cup I had poured for him before turning to level Chris with a stern look.

“Are you happy now?” I asked, pointing in the direction Scott had headed; his footsteps stomped up the stairs and sounded overhead as he headed back to his room to crawl back into bed. “What’s going on with you, Baby? ‘Cause **THAT** isn’t like you…that was mean, spiteful and vindictive, and a total dick move.”

Chris inhaled before blowing it all back out in a rush, his left hand raising to scrub over his face as he took a moment to self reflect.

“I told you last night…he made a joke about getting you knocked up again as soon as possible, and it just set me off…” He admitted, lowering his hand to look at me, guilty and upset.

“No… _THAT_ is _NOT_ just ‘returning the favor’ of a shitty prank…-” I said, eyes scanning him from head to toe, taking in his facial expression, the emotion in his eyes, his body posture and what I say had my bullshit detector ringing. “-you’re not telling me everything…what else is going on in your head? ‘You need to talk to me’, remember?”

His head tipped forward slightly, trying to hide his half smile of bemusement and soft chuckle, but not succeeding in the least in keeping them from me. Stepping into his personal space, I cupped his cheek, making him look at me.

“What’s going on?” I asked again, gaze imploring him to talk to me. I had spent a week on my own, dealing with the aftermath in seclusion, like a hermit, keeping this huge event secret from everyone, him especially…but hadn’t started to actually begin ‘healing’ until Chris was right there by my side; dropping the news on him had burst the dam on MY grieving, which he seemed to push all HIS emotions and thoughts to the side to be the strong one, allowing me to take my much needed moment to find North again. Now it was his turn, and he was beginning to process everything-what I told him, his thoughts, his feelings, his heart’s desires, our hope, our loss…all of it.

“I…” He started, but stopped to pause, staring at the far wall of the kitchen for good beat before continuing, eyes unfocused as he looked off at something unseen, “I just…I don’t really know what I feel right now, Baby.”

Nodding, I agreed; I knew exactly how he felt, having almost a week and half advance over him in coping. Walking over to the stool in the corner, near the pantry, I pulled that into the kitchen, patting the seat for him to take as I turned to fix up my coffee to begin drinking.

Pouring in the creamer that had sat in the fridge waiting for me upon arrival earlier in the week, I picked up the spoon, stirring it in until it turned my coffee a light tan; setting the spoon back on the rest next to the coffeepot, I turned, facing Chris as I leaned back against the counter.

Staring him down, I asked, “Let me guess, you feel numb?”

He nodded, his normally happy and expressive blue eyes were sad and downcast as he stared at the tiled floor between us.

“You feel lost?-” More nodding. “-Sad, depressed?-” His mouth opened in a silent ‘Yeah…’ “-You feel angry? Like the one thing you’ve _ALWAYS_ wanted just got snatched out of your hands?”

Looking up, his eyes met mine, welling up as his swallowed back the tears trying to escape.

“You’re heartbroken at the ‘what ifs’…all the different images flashing through your mind and heart about ‘what we could have had’…” I added, seeing the answer as it slipped from his eyes when he blinked; shifting the coffee cup from his right hand to his left, Chris lifted his hand to wipe away the tears as I went on, “Chris…believe me, I know. ‘Cause I’m going through this right with you…”

“You said you thought it would have been a girl…I wonder if she would have looked like you, if she would have had your green eyes, or if she would have had my lighter brown hair versus your dark chocolate…” He choked out, making me tear up at hearing him get emotional like this.

“I know you want to cling to every single one of those hopes, dreams, questions and possibilities, Chris…but you can’t. It’s not healthy, babe…you allow yourself to feel every single one of those things, warring inside you right now, ask yourself all those questions, let yourself imagine those scenarios…but please, don’t let them take over your life!” I told him, stepping across the floor once I set my cup down on the counter. Taking his free hand in both of mine, I stood before him, trying with all my might to convey in my pleaded eyes as I told him, “This just wasn’t the right time apparently…but, we’ll get there. I promise, before you know it, I’ll be telling you ‘we’ is about to become ‘three’.”

“But _how_ do you know…?” He asked, sniffling deeply to clear his nose. His own eyes looked scared, worried and sought reassurance in mine, so I did what I could in that moment.

“Because I feel it all the way down to my soul. The hope that we start _OUR_ family is the only thing keeping my Grinchy little, cold and cynical heart from shriveling up and disappearing entirely…” I joked.

“You have one of the biggest hearts I know…”

“We should probably get that looked that…it could prove to be a problem.” I went on, trying to get a smile or a laugh out of him; I managed to get the tiniest version of both, but they counted nonetheless in my book. Squeezing his hand, I echoed the words he’d repeated so many times in the last two months, telling him, “Seriously though…talk to me, please! This is something we have to get through together…so stop taking your frustrations and anger and negativity out on your friends, family and loved ones, Chris…you need to apologize to Scotty when he comes down later, for me, please?”

His gaze raked over my face, peering deep into my soul before he nodded once more, pulling his hand from mine to wrap his arm around me, holding me close. Whispering in my ear, he told me, “How are you only twenty-eight? I swear, sometimes, I see this ancient wise woman peering back at me from the depths of your gorgeous green eyes, babe…”

Smiling, I leaned back, looking him in the eye as I chuckled, “To make up for the days I act like a five year old…I’m still mad at you for what you did to Scotty and using me to play a part in it, but I love you…now, go get your jacket on, and take your dog out so he can do his business while I get ready to start baking off cookies and getting the muffins started. We have somethings we need to discuss after last night..”

Leaning forward, I pressed my lips to his for a quick kiss before stepping back to begin my task of baking while the house was mostly empty and before school let out early. Moving to the fridge, I grabbed the containers of cookie dough that Lisa and I had made the night before, setting them as well as the carton of eggs on the counter top and moved on to preheat the oven, catching Chris standing from the stool out of the corner of my eye to grab his jacket and round up the dogs to take outside.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, one batch of freshly baked cookies was setting up on racks and another having just gone into the oven, I sipped my coffee over the big bowl that contained part of the muffin mix when I heard the soft hush of the sliding door opening and the ‘click-click-click’ of canine toenails sounded on the floor as Chris let them back inside.

Stepping through the door quickly, he shut and locked it, crossing the kitchen in a handful of big strides; the chill that clung to his sweatshirt had me jumping at the shock of his body pressing into mine from behind.

“You’re cold…go awayyyyyyy!” I told him, trying to evade his freezing nose as he nuzzled it into my neck with a soft chuckle and his hands snaked under the hem of my shirt, migrating towards my breasts.

“And you’re warm…and you have cookies…-” He whispered, nipping at my neck while his right hand left my waist under my shirt, extending to the coffeepot and what remained of the pot I had brewed. “-and you have coffee.”

“And I’m glad to see you’re in a better mood now…” I smiled as I lowered my cup to let him pour what was left into my cup; setting the empty carafe on the counter, Chris lifted my cup to his lips since the cup he had finished was cold, nearly empty and on the other side of the room.

Retching, he made a face as the flavored creamer overpowered the coffee.

“You only have yourself to blame…stop drinking my coffee!” I told him, reaching for my mug to take it away from him, my hand pointing at the dining table. “Go grab your cup, I’ll get another pot going.”

He disengaged from my body and I went about getting a second pot of ‘go-go juice’ started. Dodger had wandered back into the kitchen, taking up a spanse of floor tween the counter and the dining table, gnawing on the pig’s ear I had bought for him at Walmart, the night before. Chris had retrieved his mug and stood with a hip cocked against the counter, watching me as the pot began the magical transformation of turning water into strong coffee.

“What?” I asked, catching him out of the corner of my eye as I mixed the wet ingredients together.

“Nothing.” He smiled, reaching once again for my mug, impatient for the machine to hurry up and give him his coffee; once more, his face pinched in a grimace, tongue sticking out comically as he swallowed his mouthful. Setting my mug back on the counter top, Chris added, “I just like watching you in the kitchen…it’s something I grew up seeing with Ma and my Aunts. It’s comforting.”

Turning to shoot him a mischievous grin, I used the back of my wrist to push a fallen strand of hair off my face, telling him sarcastically, “You’re lucky I know you as well as I do, because that was just vague enough to be mistaken for sexism, babe…with undertones of a maternal kink…”

“Will you stop armchair psychoanalyzing me?” He laughed at the same time the coffee pot hissed, signalling it was finished and he was permitted to take his portion of the fresh liquid. Pouring a full mug, he settled in, one arm around my waist. “You know what I meant…I like watching you because I know this is something you love, food…making it, sharing it, eating it. You really are a Mother Hen, and it shows in the fact that you instinctively take care of the people around you whether you’re aware of it or not. As for ‘sexism’…you know Ma, there was never a chance any of her kids were going to grow up to be misogynistic, sexist…”

“Or Republican…” I interrupted with a laugh as I began mixing in the dry ingredients, the hand mixer on low to try to not disturb Scott upstairs.

The physical shudder that ran through him at that word had me laughing hard.

“Oh Gaahd NO!” I exclaimed, turning his face to the right, ‘spitting’ on the ground and falling back to his Catholic upbringing by ‘crossing’ himself. Turning his face back to mine, he pressed in, lips against my temple as he added in a muffled whisper, “And thank fahk you aren’t either! One of these days you’ll meet the rest of my crazy, loud Italian family…where the holiday get togethers always ends up with somebody hurt by something somebody else said, screaming and yelling, conversations turn into debates…”

“That’s nothing new to me…both sides of my family are like that, only…a good portion of them are Repugs…which means me sneaking off with alcohol and dessert to get a moment’s peace.” I admitted, tipping the last of the flour mix into the batter.

“Well…at least you won’t be alone anymore. You’ll have to keep you company now…”

“Oh? No, I have the feeling I’ll be dragging you away from fights once you’re entrenched in the middle of an argument…” I said, knocking my shoulder into his chest. “So, I’m setting the rule now…when you finally DO meet _MY_ crazy, loud, obnoxious family, no picking fights!”

“Okay babe…but I do get to meet them?” He teased, giving me a squeeze before taking another sip of his coffee.

“Eventually…you still have to meet my mom and stepdad, then I’ll worry about throwing you to the rest of the wolves…”

It wasn’t much longer before I had the rest of the batter finished, poured into the muffin tins, and in the oven with another batch of cookies. Filling our mugs yet again, Chris and I wandered into the family room,  where he started a fire before joining me on the couch. Sitting with my back against the arm, I stretched out, my feet in his lap; snagging a throw off the back of the couch, Chris covered my legs and feet, tucking me in for the few minutes left on the timer before the goodies in the oven would need to be taken out.

“You said you wanted to talk…where do you want to begin, Kay?” Chris asked, right arm resting on the other arm of the couch, supporting his arm for easy coffee consumption, while his left was stretched out over the back of the couch towards me; every once in awhile, he’d wiggle his fingertips, trying to get my attention until I finally reached over to lock mine with his.

Lowering my eyes, I stared into the depths of what remained in my mug, cup numero four…taking a deep breath, I brought up the subject that I felt needed to be addressed as soon as possible.

“Birth control…” I said, flicking my eyes to Chris. His brows were pinched and the corners of his mouth turned down as he watched me carefully. “I told you last night, the rest of this week and any time we can manage to sneak together until after New Years, we’re gonna have to use condoms and after my next cycle, Dr. Hildebrand said it would be okay for me to get back on the pill or go ahead with a more ‘long term’ form of birth control…”

Watching me intently, Chris lifted his mug, taking a sip; he nodded, silently telling me to go on.

“And after hearing about the fight you had with Scotty last night, and you bringing it up again after that little stunt you pulled this morning…I think we need to discuss the options laid out on the table.” I went on, rubbing my foot along his side under the blanket, keeping an affectionate line of connection as I tiptoed around the touchy subject with him. “Do we want to start trying? I mean, do we _want_ to actively begin trying to start our family? Because…I know you feel super guilty about even thinking and entertaining the idea of me being pregnant again, so soon after…”

Chris leaned back into the corner of the couch, his arm holding the coffee mug bent and resting on the arm while he looked down into his lap where the blanket covered my lower legs and feet. He took a moment, thinking and lost in his thoughts before answering.

“Honestly?” He asked quietly.

“Yeah…Baby, I _ALWAYS_ want you to be honest with me…this isn’t some trivial little bullshit topic, like what color to paint the kitchen or what movie we should go see. This is me, asking you, as your fiancee, ‘Are we ready to take on the next step, along with getting married and me packing up my life to join you in yours’?” I reassured him, sitting up and leaning over to show him I was serious about this, I pulled my hand from his to touch his chest, resting my hand over his heart. “Because this is a _HUGE_ decision and it has to be made…do we want to start building _OUR_ family right away or do we want to wait a little bit and enjoy some time, just you and me first?”

“You won’t be mad?”

“I promise.” I told him, my hand retreating from his chest to cross over my heart. “I WANT to hear your side of this, what you’re feeling, thinking…it’s not just a matter of me getting pregnant, Chris…I’m not exactly doing this entirely on my own, baby…you’re just as much a part of this as me, being the father and all…”

“I _DO_ feel guilty, but only because when I heard you tell me you were pregnant, it was the most amazing moment, I can’t begin to describe what I was feeling in my heart, even though you sat in front of me falling completely apart as you went on telling me you had lost it…and those wonderful, unexplainable feelings that had just begun to lift off came crashing down around me…it was the happiest and saddest moment of my life, Babe. But it also showed me just how much I want a family, with you…”

The timer on the oven beeped, and I began untangling from the blanket and Chris to go take care of them before they burned. Offering him a tiny apologetic smile, I whispered, “Hold that thought…be right back, Love.”

I grabbed our mugs, making my way around the couch  and back into the kitchen, setting the mugs on the counter and reaching to turn off the alarm as I grabbed the trivet to pull the trays from the heart of the oven, setting them on the cooling racks and turning the oven off. Pouring more coffee, I snagged a couple of cookies, stuffing them into my mouth to hold as I joined Chris again.

“Eww…” He chortled, accepting his mug from me and watching as I pulled the treats from my between my teeth, offering him one. He took the cookie, making a face for my amusement as I occupied my seat once more.

“Oh shut up…you don’t complain when my mouth is around your cock, so you can deal with a slightly gummy cookie…” I shot back at him while sticking my tongue out playfully. Adjusting the blanket over my legs, I got comfy again, asking, “Okay…you were saying…”

“I was saying…I’ve always known I wanted a family someday, and with what’s happened…that day’s finally here.-” Chris confessed quietly, shifting in his seat to face me better; I lifted my legs to let him get comfortable before he directed me to do so myself when he grabbed one ankle and pulled me back into his lap. “-Kay…I want ‘us’ to be a ‘family’ as soon as possible…but I also don’t want to rush you into anything if you aren’t ready to move on.”

“Chris…what happened…that’s something that’s going to stay with me for the rest of my life. That’s not something I can just forget…it’s going to be a process, understanding, accepting, coping and eventually ‘moving on’, but like you said…it put things in extremely sharp focus, what’s important to me, the things I want, things I’ve always wanted…-” I told him quietly, breaking off a piece of my cookie to pop in my mouth. Chewing, I took a second to form the next part of my speech. “-Honestly, I don’t think this is ever going to be something I’m ever going to be ‘completely over’, losing a pregnancy…but like with all losses, after awhile, the pain isn’t so debilitating, doesn’t consume you anymore…having babies, that’s the one thing I knew with certainty was in my future. I love you so much, and hearing your concern for me and being ready to try, on purpose this time…I love you all the more for it, and that love outweighs the pain and heartbreak…if you want to start trying, I’m ready because now that we’ve had that tiny taste of parenthood, I don’t think either of us is okay with waiting…”

“So…we’re gonna start trying? You wanna have a baby?” He asked, a relieved grin spreading across his face; his left hand left the back of the couch to grab my leg, squeezing it gently while he looked at me with such hope and happiness lighting his beautiful blue eyes.

I nodded, smiling at the serene feeling that settled over my mind, body heart and soul.

“Yeah, let’s start trying…I think maybe we should wait until after New Years…get through the craziness of the Holidays, focus on getting married, and then work on turning ‘you and me’ into ‘us three’.” I confirmed, spouting off the train of thought that made the most sense to me while all the options zoomed around my mind. “Fuck…we just decided we’re gonna have a baby, and we’ve only had roughly two minutes discussion about getting married…we have to pick a date, decide if we’re just having a small ceremony…” I said, eyes growing wide as I began babbling.

“I picked a date.” Chris piped up as he reached for my mug, pulling it from my hands and setting it on the coffee table next to his mug and the tiny piece of his cookie that still remained. His fingers closed around my ankles, pulling me closer to call my body into his lap. “I thought we agreed eloping would be easiest?”

“We brought it up and barely broached the subject, but I don’t remember ever really confirming that idea to be the best one, Chris…” I laughed softly as I flipped around to snuggle into his body, tossing the blanket over us both before settling into the crook made between his body and the back of the couch. Tilting my head back, I looked up at him. “Is that really what you want? Running off and eloping?”

“I want whatever’s easiest on both of us…you said it, next month is going to be crazy with Christmas and all the Holidays, your birthday coming up, we both have busy schedules…I looked at my schedule, and well…how’s New Years Eve sound?”

Staring up at him, I could only blink over and over again as his words sunk in.

“New Years Eve? You want to elope… _ON_ New Years?” I parroted back, in disbelief. He nodded his affirmation. “Chris…that’s one of my busiest days. I think I’ve already got clients booked that whole day…”

“There’s still time to…”

“Are you _seriously_ asking me to call and break the appointments right now?”

“Please? I really want this, and I’m already pressing my luck with the deadline so close…I tried booking with Caesar’s and I don’t know if they’re going to work with me on getting a room for the dates I want…I really want to finish this year and start the new one with you as my wife, Babe. Please?”

“Do you know just _how_ many clients I’ve had to pass off to friends or worse, cancel on since you came roaring into my life, Mister? **A LOT**.” I told him with a poke to his side, which made him squirm as I found his ticklish spot. “You’ve been bad for business…”

“Kay, I’m serious. If we could, I’d say earlier, but it doesn’t really give either of us much time to get ready for it, and I’ve got family traditions between your birthday and Christmas, a really old friend is getting married the 27th…I just wanted a special night, and it’d be pretty fahking hard to forget our anniversary if it’s on New Years…”

“At this rate, I may as well just stop taking any new clients on at all Chris!” I blurted out, slightly frustrated and put out.

“Baby…it would put my mind and heart at ease if you _DID_ …along with giving notice at Starbucks and the salon…”

“ _Excuse me?_ ”

“We’re getting married, I don’t want you so overwhelmed that you work yourself up into a frenzy trying to balance three jobs with getting ready for that, on top of packing, on top of getting ready to move, on top of the Holidays, AND getting ready to start trying for a baby…” He explained, adding, “I said it before, a long time ago…I want to take care of my woman, I want to be the one taking care of my family, making sure there’s a roof over our heads and food on our table…you don’t HAVE to work if you don’t want too, I’d actually prefer it if you stayed home with our kids, to bring them up without nannies or hired help. Neither of us were brought out like that, I don’t want that for our family.”

“You’re lucky I know where you’re coming from with this little speech of yours, because you just keep putting your foot in your mouth, don’t you?” I whispered, shaking my head in stunned disbelief at just how glorious of a crash this proclamation was turning out to be.

“Shiiiiiit.” He groaned, covering his face as he realized how bad his last admittance truly sounded.

“You’re lucky I love you, Evans…but you’re right.  I’ll give notice when I get back, and should be done at both places by my birthday…giving me two weeks to give my shit in order, and then I guess we’re getting hitched.” I recapped for us both. Inhaling deeply, I blew it back out again in a rush before tipping my head back to meet Chris’ eyes, round and trying to comprehend that we decided on the few next major steps in our relationship in a matter of minutes; my face surely matched his, as he mirrored the goofy grin I felt spread across my face.

“And having a baby, Baby…”

“Holy shit.” I breathed, covering my mouth with a hand as I felt the giggles bubble up out of my chest, continuing, “We’re really doing this…we’re getting married in a little over a month, and we’re gonna start trying to have a baby…how is this my life?”

“I’m not questioning the powers that be, Kay…I don’t want them to take any of it away again…” Chris admitted, resting his cheek on the top of my head as he wrapped his arms around me tight, holding my body close as the fire crackled in the hearth a few feet away, the dogs in front of it, enjoying the warmth as they slept.

* * *

Taking a nap, curled up on the couch hadn’t been part of the plan, so I scrambled to jump in the shower before we were supposed to pick up the kids from their short day at school. Throwing on clothes, I hurried to get ready while Chris took a quick shower.

Walking to the back staircase, I stopped at Scott’s door, hearing music playing at a soft volume inside. Knocking gently, I waited at the door until I heard the handle turn and he peeked through the crack at me, relieved to see it wasn’t Chris.

“Hey…” I offered quietly, somewhat bashful.

“Hey Kay…what’s up, doll?” He asked, the left side of his face lifting slightly in a tiny sad smile.

“Just wanted to check on you…and to apologize, for…ya know.” I told him, hooking my thumb back at the door to the room Chris and I occupied.

Opening the door wider, Scott sighed, stepping closer to hold his arm out for me to step into.

“Thanks, Hun…” He said softly, squeezing my shoulders tight before leaning back to look at me. “I know it wasn’t your idea…hell, I heard you tell him to knock it off a few times…I appreciate it, Kay. I really do…”

“I’m headed downstairs to wait for Chris so we can go pick up the munchkins, would you like me to get a pot of coffee going for you? You didn’t get any earlier…” I offered with a small shrug of my shoulders.

“Sure, if you’re going down there anyways, I’ll come down for coffee.”

I stepped back out of his half hug, turning towards the stairs, calling back, “See you downstairs then.”

* * *

Walking into the kitchen, Chris heard Scott’s voice as he and Katie laughed together; rounding the corner, he found them resting against the counter tops, Katie dressed for the weather outside, and Scott still in his lounge pants and tee, both holding steaming coffee vessels-Scott held a Mickey mouse mug and Katie, a travel mug bearing the Cinderella’s castle silhouette from the family’s annual trip a couple of years earlier.

“Hey, Babe…you ready to go?” Chris asked as he stepped forward, grabbing his own tumbler from the cabinet above the coffee pot to fill for the drive.

Katie had just lifted her drink to her lips for a sip, so she nodded next to him, acting as a barrier between him and Scott, who gave Chris a chilly reception upon walking into the room, clamming up and turning away.

Seeing his brother and oldest best friend ignoring him, Chris felt the guilt of his actions earlier compressing him to feel all of one inch tall. He caught Katie lower her mug from her mouth, her eyebrow rising as she looked at him, tilting her head towards Scott, her unspoken ‘Apologize to him. _NOW_!’ coming across loud and clear.

Clearing his throat, Chris looked away from Katie and her scary glare to face Scott.

“Scotty…I just wanted to say, ‘I’m sorry’. That was a total dick move, and I shouldn’t have done it…you didn’t do anything to earn that kind of treatment, especially after your breakup…I’m sorry, and I hope you’ll forgive me.”

Scott turned his face back to meet Chris’, eyes sad, but he nodded, accepting the apology.

“I’ll forgive you eventually, Asshole-” Scott said, sighing as he looked Chris in the eyes, adding, “-but just remember, I know where you sleep, so next time you get the urge to be a complete and total fahking dick, listen to Kay…’ _Baby Girl_ ’ has the brains in this relationship, not you…’ _Daddy_ ’.”

Katie’s free hand made a resounding crack sound around the room as it met her forehead as she groaned in embarrassment. It took two seconds for Chris to process his brother just waved his blackmail card proudly in his face, his jaw falling open as he laughed, his ears and the tops of his cheeks burning with a blush creeping over them.

“Yeah…maybe next time you try your ‘payback’ scheme, just remember, the ears on the other side of that wall hear _EVERYTHING_ , including the kinky shit you probably want to stay behind closed doors, Bro…” Scott smiled, reaching over to clap his hand to Chris’ cheek a smidge more forcefully than intended to drive his point home.

“You’re sleeping on the couch tonight.” Katie mumbled, shoving her hand into Chris’ chest, breaking the brothers apart to get Chris and herself back on track to pick up Carly’s kids.

* * *

The weather was still rainy and cold as we stood outside, waiting for the bell to signal the start of the Thanksgiving mini break with all the other parents, guardians and designated pick-up people; Chris held a large golf umbrella, shielding us from the rain pelting down on us through the bare tree branches. As bundled up as I was, I stood closer than I normally would have in public to take advantage of his warmth.

A few of Chris’ old friends and familiar faces congregated close by, chit chatting and catching up until the bell rang out and shortly after, a river of little people came pouring from the school’s main doors, happy and excited for their long weekend.

It wasn’t long before not one, but two tiny bodies were thrown against me, wrapping their arms around my legs. Looking down, I smiled at Miles and Stella, both bundled up with fleece beanies on their heads-Stella wearing her favorites, Anna and Elsa while Miles had a Captain America one on.

“Kitty!” Stella beamed up at me, her little nose and cheeks already turning rosy.

“Hi, Stella Bella.” I answered, squatting to give her a hug and a kiss on her cheek before turning to Miles, greeting him, “Hey Smiles…how was school? Did you guys do anything fun?”

“Hi Aunty Kitty!” He said, throwing himself into my arms; the momentum had me rocking backwards, luckily Chris caught me before we fell over onto the wet cement. “We had a Fanksgiving feast, and, we…we watched Snoopy, and um…we drew pictures! Look at my picture!”

Miles pulled himself back from my hug to pull his backpack off, asking if I would hold it while he dug in the compartment for the picture he wanted to show Chris and I. He held out a piece of white construction paper, showing a bunch of ‘people’ and the family canines.

“See, it’s what our Fanksgiving is gonna look wike!! There’s me, and Efan…Momma’s holding ‘tella…and there’s Daddy!-” He explained pointing to each of the drawn representations-his was the shorter of the two smaller figures standing side by side, the smallest was in the arms of the one that was supposed to be Carly, having blonde hair, their father was next to her, standing taller with a blue cap on his head. Moving on he pointed out the rest, “-There’s Aunty Shanna, and her boyfwiend…-” Shanna had dark hair, her boyfriend had a silly turkey hat on his head. “-There’s Noni, and Unca Scott-” Lisa and Scott seemed to be playing tug o’war with the turkey, with her small dog underneath as well as Carly’s dog waiting for scraps. “-there’s Dodga, and Unca Chris…and you, Aunty Kitty!”

He was right, Dodger was there sitting between Chris’ and my feet, our figures holding hands; his stick figure had a beard while mine had a long dark ponytail. Glancing up and Chris, I smiled; he beamed down at me in return before joining me on their level, telling Miles, “Great job, Buddy…you really captured her likeness…look at that long hair!”

Stella and Miles both giggled, agreeing with Chris when he hooked his pointer finger through the long, loose hair cascading from under my beanie. Holding the tendril up he showed it for comic effect.

“Maybe we should start calling her Aunty Rapunzel, ‘cause she’s got a lot of it, doesn’t she?”

“Kitty’s a Pwincess! She has pwincess hair!” Stella piped up, reaching to pet my hair. “Like Pwincess Jasmin!”

“She looks wike the lady from the Humpback of the bad word we can’t say…” Miles argued, turning to his sister. “Mermaidaralda!”

Chris and I both chuckled.

“I think you mean ‘Esmeralda’, bud…she does like like her, doesn’t she?” Chris corrected with a smile, turning ever so slightly to wink at me.

“Flattery will get you everywhere, Evans…” I reminded him with my own flirty look.

“Baby, I don’t know what you’re talking about…I got an All Access pass, remember?” He countered, raising his eyebrow suggestively.

“Behave.” I mouthed as I scrunched my nose at him. Turning back to Miles and Stella, I asked, “Where’s your brother?”

“He walks out wif Banana!” Stella volunteered, a happy grin spreading over her tiny face.

“Banana?” I asked, turning back to Chris with a raised brow of confusion.

“Rhiannon…her mom is a HUGE Stevie Nicks fan apparently.” He explained, amusement showing as I smiled and looked back at Stella.

“We’ll stick with Banana then…” I told her, lifting a finger to lightly boop the end of her nose. Addressing them both, I asked, “Okay, are you guys ready to go home and build a fort so we can read and have a tea party?”

“Tea pawty!” Stella squealed, jumping up and down excitedly.

“A tea pawty? Boys don’t have tea pawties Aunty!” Miles exclaimed, his little face expressing that everybody knew that.

“Well, if you won’t drink tea during story time, you won’t get to eat the goodies I baked to go with it…” I pointed out, adding, “And besides, the main character in this story, HE likes tea. He has tea EVERYDAY before his adventure begins! Uncle Chris is gonna have tea, Uncle Scotty might join us too, and he’ll have tea.”

“Fine, I’ll have tea…if Unca Chris and Unca Scotty have tea, so will I…but you gotta make Efan dwink it too!” Miles sighed, sounding so put out as he agreed.

“I promise, it’ll be worth it!” I told him, smiling as I pulled him in for another hug, whispering in his ear, “We won’t drink out of fancy tea cups like Stella’s tea set, just the mugs in Noni’s cupboard!”

By the time Ethan came out, joined us and we headed home after making a quick stop so Chris could run into the grocery store, walking out with a brown paper bag, the rain was pouring, and we made a quick dash for the house once we pulled into the driveway.

“Okay, first things first…and I HAVE to ask this before we get down to business…” I said, serious as I shrugged out of Chris’ heavy canvas jacket I had worn out.

“To defeat the Huns!” came from Scott’s disembodied voice, muffled and barely audible from the back of the house.

Chris cracked up as he herded the kids in behind me, helping Stella to get her coat and boots off once he stepped inside and shut the door.

“Do you have homework this weekend?” I asked all three of the little faces, flushed with the chill of the wind and rain outside. Ethan nodded, a grumbled ‘yeah’ escaping his lips as he toed off his rain boots, depositing them in the corner that had been designated for such footwear. Miles and Stella just smiled, shaking their heads ‘no’. Looking to Ethan, I bent at the waist, my hands bracing myself against my knees, I asked, “What do ya got?”

“A page of spelling words, math problems, and I gotta work on my science project.” He admitted with a heavy sigh.

“Tell ya what…let’s get your math problems out of the way now, then we can work on your spelling words a few minutes before we eat for the next few days, that way it’s not all at once on Sunday night? As for your science project…you’ll have to bring me up to speed, but I think Uncle Chris is the person to ask for help with that one.” I told him with a small chuckle, reaching out to ruffle his hair; Ethan smiled, looking from myself to Chris and back, agreeing. 

* * *

“Alright, Ethan’s working on his math homework, that means it’s time WE made a fort!” Chris said to Miles and Stella, clapping his hands together in front of his chest. “You ready?”

Both his niece and nephew yelled their excitement, making him laugh as the thought crossed his mind, ‘Gahd…we’re going to bring our own little people into the word, and do things like this with them…’

Leading the pack, he headed off to the linen closet for the supplies they would need-sheets, blankets and the extra comforters. He gave Stella two of the kids sized sleeping bags they had pulled from the garage earlier, Miles got another as well as one of the adult sized ones, his hand grabbing the strap and dragging the roll behind him towards the stairs to the basement; Chris followed, laden down with the stacks of fabric.

“Stella Bella, just chuck ‘em down the stairs…there you go, Princess!” He smiled as he looked over the tower of folded sheets and blankets in his arms, watching as her little arms swung the smaller rolls into the abyss. “You too, bud…”

Miles did as he was told, adding the two rolled up sleeping bags he had been in charge of to the pile at the bottom of the stairs; shifting the ‘building materials’ into one arm, Chris turned on the light, and watched them as they bounced down each step ahead of him; Stella and Miles chasing each other in an impromptu game of tag as they hit the ground running had Chris grinning as he too stepped down off the bottom stair, moving to arrange the room for optimal fort building construction.

Chris had the sleeping bags spread out, the ‘supports’ for the fort’s roof in place and was unfurling the sheets to cover when he heard his name called from upstairs.

“ ** _CHRIS!_** ” Katie’s voice yelled, muffled by the staircase and sound proofing in the basement.

_“ **WHAAAAT?** ”_

“Math emergency, help!”

Glancing at Miles and Stella, standing other side of the fort, holding the sheet until he could secure it in place, he just rolled his eyes before tucking the edge of the sheet under the table leg, moving to take care of the corners they held.

“Come on, Kitty needs help…and we need pillows for our fort anyway…”

The kids stomped up the steps ahead of him, running on to retrieve the cushions from the couches and chairs in the living room before blazing a path upstairs to kidnap their pillows from their beds while he broke off to assist with homework in the kitchen.

“What’s the problem?” He asked, stopping behind Ethan, looking over his shoulder at the paper in front of him. Katie appeared at his side, pointing at the list of questions concerning fractions. “Did you seriously call me up here for fractions, Babe?”

“”Do you know how long it’s been since I had to seriously think about fractions in any other term than a unit of measurement in cooking?” She countered, eyes wide as she gave her head a little shake to emphasize her point before leaning in to whisper for Chris’ ears only, “Besides, math was never my strong suit…”

“You own a business!” He chuckled, leaning on the back of Ethan’s chair, to level Katie with an amused stare. “How are you able to manage your books?”

“Are you kidding me? There’s an app for just about everything these days, Chris! If it’s simple addition, subtraction, basic multiplication and division, I’m good, but I’ve got a pretty wicked case of numbers dyslexia…as for my business, I cheat! I use apps and software to tally and calculate everything, maintain my books…plug in the numbers and they do it all! I just press print and hand it over in time for taxes.” Katie confessed with a shrug. Pointing at the paper in front of Ethan, she added, “Help your nephew, all those ‘greater than’/’less than’ questions, word problems and that ‘common core’ nonsense fried my brain…I has the ‘dumb’ now.”

She turned right back around, going back to assembling a tray with mugs, a teapot, milk, sugar and a covered plate with the goodies she made made especially for their promised story time before turning with the tray, raising a brow as she looked at him, saying with a curt nod of her head, “He’s your pupil now, Merlin…I’m off to set up Afternoon Tea and get the Hobbit hole ready.”

Under his supervision, it only took a few minutes for Ethan to finish the remaining problems; checking over the sheet, Chris told Ethan to run upstairs and change into comfy clothes, as well as bring down his pillow so he would match his brother and sister in their warm, bum around the house sweats.

“And tell Uncle Scott to come down if he wants to, Kitty made treats!” He called after the boy as he darted out of the room. 

* * *

Sitting on the camp mattress pad, I adjusted one of the big couch cushions behind me, offering better support to lean back on, my legs extended out before me, Chris stretched out perpendicular with his head resting in my lap and his legs sticking well out from under the shelter of our ‘Hobbit hole’; Scott laid propped up across from me, his slippered feet on the other side of my body, the boys sprawled out in the open square space of the mattress pad, Stella reclining on Uncle Scott with her soft Sofia the First dolly cuddled up to her neck.

Picking up my Kindle, I adjusted the brightness of the screen, as well as the size of the font before asking, “This is one of my favorite stories…in fact, I was only a little bit older than you, Ethan the first time I watched the cartoon version of this story…it’s one of bravery, and adventure, about finding courage within yourself, it’s about friendship…it’s the beginning of one of the most magical, and beloved stories to ever be written! Is everybody ready?”

Chris had closed his eyes, but I could see the smile curl his mouth into a wide grin in the dim light; the kids nodded and called for me to start, their mugs sitting in front of them waiting to be filled when the time came. Touching my thumb to the screen, it glowed, illuminating me. Clearing my throat, I took a brief second to glance at the three eager and awaiting faces, secretly hoping they would fall in love with this story just like I had before beginning.

“Chapter 1. An Unexpected Party. ‘In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit…’”





End file.
